Finding your style in action photography

If you’ve mastered the basics of photography and want to make your work more distinctive, the most important person you need to please is yourself. "You need to look at an image and be able to say 'that's 100% how I wanted it to be'," says action photographer and Canon Ambassador Lorenz Holder. "Once you can do this over and over again, you'll reach the point where you've started to create your personal style."

Known for a body of work where action sports, landscapes and architecture collide in striking compositions, Lorenz has built a visual style that's instantly recognisable. A snowboarding trip to Norway provided the inspiration for his journey into more creatively fulfilling action sports photography.

"We were in the land of the midnight sun, when you have these endless sunsets," he recalls. "I was so fascinated by the fjords and the landscape, and I wanted to show what I could see at that moment. So I framed a little wider to show the beauty of the scenery. This meant the athletes in action were a little bit smaller, but showing the bigger picture and capturing where action sports actually happen was exactly what made the images."

Recognising that he didn't have to fill the whole image with action to create an impactful shot was the turning point for Lorenz's photographic style, which evolved gradually from there.

For Lorenz, that evolution didn't just change how his images looked – it reshaped the way he approached every shoot.

"Although the action could be just a small part of the image, I couldn't be so far away that you couldn't see the trick any more, because you're still supposed to be documenting the action," he says. "I needed viewers to recognise the action and not just the landscape. It's a thin line between being too far away and being at the right distance."

In many cases, the process starts long before his Canon EOS R5 Mark II comes out of the bag. Finding the right location is the spark for Lorenz's ideas. "I look for places that are a little out of the ordinary and would make a beautiful image even without the athlete," he says.

"I was once asked what makes the perfect action shot, and I said that if you remove the athlete from my pictures and people would still hang the image on their wall then you have a pretty good base for the perfect action shot, in my eyes."

Surprisingly, for a photographer who's become synonymous with the Red Bull Illume awards for adventure and action sports photography, Lorenz draws inspiration from beyond the world of boards, bikes and gravity-defying feats.

“I'm more or less a landscape and an architectural photographer in my free time," he says, "and I'm a big fan of architectural blogs and books. I love to see how other photographers capture buildings and landscapes – and I think this influences me more than action sports."

Rather than taking preliminary shots on his phone or planning compositions in a sketchbook, Lorenz makes mental notes of locations and develops his ideas from there. “That way you can work anywhere, whether you're on the train or in a car," he says. He can usually see the final image in his head – “or how I want to have it, at least” – and then weighs up the practical steps to achieving it.

“I'll need to decide what the best timing for the shoot is, whether that is the morning, during the day or in the evening – or even the season. Is it better to shoot in the winter or in the spring, for example.”

Regardless of how much you pre-visualise your final shot, things can go wrong. Maybe the weather isn't cooperating. Perhaps the athlete you're photographing is struggling. Having a backup plan is always a good idea, Lorenz advises.

“You may not be able to wait for the perfect conditions. If you need the sun to create shadows but it's overcast and you can only shoot on that day, then you need a plan B. Think about a second picture that could work with different lighting scenarios – or even if it starts to rain.

“The more answers you already have in your head before the shooting even starts, then the less stress you'll have during the shoot."

Lorenz might have all eventualities covered, forged bonds with athletes he trusts, and perfected a distinctive look that sets his work apart – but he continues to challenge himself when it comes to building a shot.

“I don't think about whether I've done something before," he says. “I'm not influenced by any of my previous images, and I start from zero with every action shot that I take.”

That mindset of starting fresh with every shoot has also encouraged Lorenz to experiment with a range of photographic techniques – from infrared and aerial photography to double exposures and reflections. He used the last of these on a shoot in and around his home city of Munich. Normally he'd take advantage of any puddles to capture low-level reflections, but on this occasion, there hadn't been any rain. Taking a mirror on the shoot allowed him to achieve a reflected image precisely where he needed it.

“Shooting reflections is a technique I sometimes return to," he says. "What I really like to do is to flip the images 180°. So I'd shoot the reflection close-up and then rotate the image." When the image is presented like this, he says, people understand it but can tell that something's not quite right. "I like this surprising moment you can create for the viewer."

Capturing reflections in motion can also provide a technical challenge that's rewarding to master. It requires an understanding of where to focus, how to balance depth of field with a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the moment – if that is the goal – and a sense of timing sharp enough to capture the athlete at precisely the right moment. The resulting image can be both striking and slightly disorientating, encouraging the viewer to pause and look again.

Even the reflective surface you choose can create a very different look. "It could be glass, water, metal, or marble, and each will reflect the action in a different way," Lorenz says. "Marble, for example, offers a softer, more dreamy reflection than glass.

“If you're using a window for your reflection, then it will act like a mirror if you're parallel to the glass, but the more you move to the side, the more you'll be able to see beyond the glass. If there's something cool in the window – if it's, say, an interesting shop window – then you could combine the reflection and the scene through the glass."

Alternatively, as Lorenz has done, you can take your own reflective material with you. He says that, especially considering the instant fixes offered by AI, using something as simple and hands-on as a mirror is more fun.

It's a creative technique that isn't restricted to action sports either. From wildlife and travel to street photography, dance, and city life, reflections can add a new dimension to your images of subjects in motion.

For Lorenz, techniques such as using reflections are simply another way of capturing a scene differently – and creating images that feel truly your own.

Developing a distinctive style takes time, and it's something he believes photographers should approach with patience rather than constantly jumping between trends or approaches.

"You need to be 100% happy with your work," he says. "In the end, the best advice is to find a style that you always love."